Padilla Statement on Republican Attacks on California’s Clean Air Act Waivers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement after House Republicans erroneously voted to strike down three California Clean Air Act waivers, which authorize California’s clean cars and trucks programs. The Senate Parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have already determined that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the simple majority threshold in the Congressional Review Act (CRA) and therefore would require 60 votes to secure Senate passage.
“House Republicans’ misguided and cynical attempts to gut the Clean Air Act and undercut California’s climate leadership ignores the reality of California’s strength as the fourth largest economy in the world. I will continue to defend our state’s authority to protect our residents, clean our air, lower costs, and transition to a clean energy economy.
“Let me also be clear about process. The Senate parliamentarian has already upheld decades of precedent and determined these CRAs are not allowed by Senate rules. If Senate Republicans take up these measures under the Congressional Review Act, they will be going nuclear by overruling the Parliamentarian, all to baselessly attack California.”
Senator Padilla has been outspoken in pushing back against Republican attacks on California’s Clean Air Act waivers and welcomed the Senate parliamentarian’s decision that waivers are not subject to the CRA. He also joined Senators Schiff and Whitehouse in blasting Trump and Zeldin’s weaponization of the EPA when the GAO had already found that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the CRA. Padilla and Schiff also slammed the Trump Administration’s intent to roll back dozens of the EPA’s regulations that protect California’s air and water.
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